Got Goals?

During the conference, as a mission we reanalyzed a lot of the things that we are doing and how we can better ourselves in order to achieve our full potential. Everything from the way we make contacts to the way we ask the members for references. We set new goals and I am able to testify that President Perez, the Assistants, and President Nash made these goals according to revelation. They may seem like lofty goals but everything is possible with the Lord

Finally Feeling Complete

Yesterday we had the baptismal service for Wader Rios and like always it was something special. He has been looking forward to his baptism for so long and yesterday it finally came to pass. When he bore his testimony he shared with us that for so long he has felt as if something was missing in life. He has always had a great family (members of the church), work, and the worldly things that make us feel complete, but still he wasn´t complete. For so long he had been looking for it and had been praying to find it. He said that when Elder Quiroga and I showed up at his house to have a Family Home Evening he felt that he long search was over. Wader is going to be a huge blessing to the church and is going to contribute so much to the work. Even though he is 38 years old I feel as though he is my brother. My brother from another mother!

Don't Hold Anything Back!

Saturday morning we experienced “The coming of Nash”. We had a multi-zone conference with him here in Iquitos. The missionaries from Pullcalpa and the other zone here in Iquitos all came to our Stake Center to be apart of the conference. President Nash came with is wife and of course President and Sister Perez were there too. The purpose of the whole conference was to strengthen our ability to teach, contact, and realize our true purpose of being Representatives of Christ. It was six hours of true inspiration. President Nash shared an experience that he had with one of his sons when he was serving a mission. When they were saying goodbye in the airport his son was giving hugs to his family but didn’t leave much time to say goodbye to his dad (President Nash). He quickly gave his son a hug and told him one thing “Don’t hold anything back”. When President Nash said those words something hit me hard. It brought back so many times when I did hold something back, when I didn’t give everything that I had. More than anything it brought the pain of Regret that I have experienced before. It made me think of my junior year and the Stake Track Championships. When I was running the 800 for our relay and I took the baton in first place. What happened that day still haunts me because I finished that race knowing that I hadn’t given everything. That my teammates paid the price for my efforts. I held something back.

One of my goals here in the field that I made for myself back in the MTC was to give everything in every moment so that I won´t feel that same pain of regret that I felt that day in Bronco Stadium. The zone conference gave me another opportunity to rededicate myself to give everything so that when I some home I can tell my dad and those I love “I didn´t hold anything back”.

I Love This Work!

I have never been so happy or stressed out in all my life. But we are working every day the way the Lord expects us to do so. Every day is another day to make something happen and give your all for something that you know to be right and true. I love this work and love suffering in the work of the Lord. I hope you all have another great and exciting week. Thanks for everything. I love you all.

The Lord Knows!

This past week we also found another great family to teach, and it was a pretty neat experience finding them. Last week in the afternoon we were walking to one of our appointments and I noticed on the other side of the street a young boy in a wheel chair who was struggling with moving himself along the sidewalk. I told my comp we were going to be a little late to our appointment because I wanted to help this kid out. We crossed the street and I told him to kick up his feet and pull in his hands because we were going to set a land speed record. We got to talking and he told us that his name was Percy and that he was a member. He was baptized a year ago by an Elder Mayo. I asked him about his family and he told us that his parents weren’t members. He had a great conversation on the way to his house and we asked to talk to his folks but they weren’t home right then. We made an appointment to return and on our return visit, both of the parents were home. We started talking to them and they welcomed us with arms wide open. We found out that they weren’t married yet so we instantly told them about the “matrimono massivo” that was coming up. They both told us that they have wanted to get married for so long but haven’t had the money to do so. It was truly a miracle, we gathered all of their documents and did their health examine in no more than two days. We have began teaching them and helping them to gain the same testimony that their son Percy already has. This week we are going to challenge them to get baptized. The Lord works in so many ways and knows who is ready to receive the gospel and progress in this great plan.

Getting Things in Order

Well “La Venida De NASH” (The coming of Nash) didn’t happen this week but is going to happen this week. President Perez and the assistants are busy making sure that everything is in tip top shape for when he comes. I’m more excited than nervous for the whole little adventure; I can’t wait to get feedback from him with what I can improve on to help my investigators understand the truth and importance of the Restored Gospel.

This past week we definitely covered some ground and walked hard. We were busy getting birth certificates, personal identifications, health examines, and a huge list of other things ready for our couples that we are helping to get married. Everyday this past week reminded me of when I would plan to take care of 15 lawns in a single day. We didn’t have time to take a breather and whenever we just felt like falling over; we found another gear and kept on keeping on. But in the midst of all the hard work and success, we also ran into some speed bumps with the Martinez Family. They weren’t able to find all of their papers in time and we had to tell them last night that they were going to have to wait till the next “matrimonio massivo” to get married. It broke my heart telling them the news. I have worked with this family for over 2 months and I feel as if they are part of my family. I have really grown to love them, and seeing how the gospel is changing their lives and strengthening their family, made it so hard to tell them the bad news. But they are still determined to do everything possible to be ready for the next opportunity.

We Are Working And Growing Together

Every transfer definitely comes with its own challenges but I am really excited about this next six weeks. Elder Salvatierra and I are starting to click and he is slowly getting use to my pace of working. He’s a great guy and he is beginning to get a feel for the real work I think. We definitely have a lot of work to do this change and we go to sleep dead tired every night but that is the way the Lord would want it to be.

We are going to get a bit of a treat this next week. President Nash (President of the South America East Area) of the first quorum of the Seventy is coming to Iquitos to pay us a visit and to see our ability to teach as missionaries. The missionaries from Pullcalpa are also going to come (another part of the jungle) and we are going to have a huge meeting, and one by one he will call us out and give us a situation and we will have to teach him and commit him to do something. I am way excited to have a General Authority here in Iquitos. Elder Salvatierra is nervous because he doesn’t think he teaches very well. I told him he knows the lessons, he knows how to make a contact, you have nothing to be worried about, just rely on the spirit and you will say what needs to be heard. So this week President Nash is in town, and I will let you know how it goes next week.

THREE Families in Harmony with the Lord

In this weeks email I wanted to tell you about the THREE families we are getting ready for baptism this month; First off the Martinez family. Jorge and Hermalinda live in the poorest part of our area and it has really been a humbling experience working with them. They have so little and yet are sacrificing so much to live the Gospel. We actually met them thanks to the branch President and we have been working with them for about two months now. They are going to get married September 23 and then enter the waters of baptism September 27. They have a huge family of about eight kids. It’s so much fun when we teach them, because when we arrive all of the little kids go running through the house yelling “MAMA, LOS HERMANOS”. The kids are big fans of the magic tricks you guys sent me, so thanks again for those. But I have really seen the way the Gospel touches the hearts of those who are ready to receive it with the Martinez Family. They tell us everyday just how happy and excited they are to finally be putting their lives in harmony with the Lord.

We received a reference from the Bishops wife last week of one of her friends who isn’t married but her and her boyfriends are excited about tying the knot. When we arrived to meet them, they were in a hurry and were heading out the door. So we made an appointment to return, but after they left we began talking with her parents. Eliseo and Hercilia are in their 50s and are definitely a cute little couple. We began talking with them and we found out that they weren’t married as well. We began to teach them about Matrimony and all of the blessing that the Lord has ready for them if they are will to obey this commandment and get married. We began to explain to them about the “Matrimonio Massivo” that we are getting ready and they both instantly told us, “Yeah lets do it, what do we have to do” We were definitely excited to get them ready to get married but it wasn’t until our next appointment that we began to teach them about the Restored Gospel. We taught them the first lesson and Elder Salvatierra and I both felt that they were ready to be challenged to baptism. We challenged them and they both accepted to get married September 27. They both came to church yesterday and afterwards they told us about how they hadn’t felt so sure about anything until we challenged them to be baptized and accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. Eliseo always has a handful of questions but he has received an answer to his prayers and the two of them are progressing together. This family, the Marin Family, is what every missionary prays for, and I am so thankful I have the opportunity to help them along.

The last couple is the Rios Family. Wader and Rosa aren’t your typical jungle couple, mainly because THEY ARE ALREADY MARRIED. I know, crazy isn’t it, but it’s true. Their kids are already members but for some reason the missionaries that were here a long time ago didn’t teach the parents. So here we are cleaning up what some bum missionary didn’t do, lol. But the two of them are really excited. Wader came to church yesterday and after Sacrament Meeting, I leaned over to him and asked him how he felt and if he had any questions. He was silent for a moment and then he told me “I know now more than ever that this is the only true church on the earth” I smiled and agreed with him. They are going to get baptized September 20. They truth is definitely going forward even here in the Jungles of Peru.

Changes and Challenges!

Let me just say that you hit it on the head when you said my new companion will add a new dimension to the work. He is also from Bolivia like Elder Quiroga but it will definitely be a learning experience for me. I love taking him through the really muddy and rugged parts of our area just too dirty up his shoes a bit. Hopefully I will be able to find a way to get him motivated and focused by the end of the change. I am really missing Elder Quiroga but I just have to remember that there is a reason for everything!

Families Can Be Together Forever

This up coming month is looking really good and I am really thankful for the success we are having thus far. We have a total of three couples that are going to get married this 23 of September and all of them are really excited about the message of the restoration. We received a reference from the bishop’s wife so we of course made it a point to contact them as soon as possible. We met them (The Familia Marin) and got to talking and our conversation slowly merged into the importance of the family and the plan that God has for every family. They told us that they weren’t married but asked us if we could help them out. We were like HECK YEAH, so they will be getting married this month as well along with their son and his partner. We taught them the entire first lesson last night and this week we are going to challenge them to get baptized after their marriage. Never before have I taught so many families at one time that are actually going to be able to progress and are excited about the Gospel. I feel a little overwhelmed because there is so much to do and so little time. Everything from getting their documents ready and authorized for their marriage and well as trying to keep them motivated about the Gospel, Whew, There is a lot to be done. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Signs of the Gospel Message

The last couple of weeks we have been teaching a young girl (whose parents are members) who only communicates with sign language. Her name is Sarbia and we baptized her this past Saturday. We had been teaching her for about two weeks and it was really a great experience. I can officially teach the four lessons with sign language. Every night Elder Quiroga and I would practice the lesson we were going to teach her and planned out what pictures we were going to use to help her understand and feel the importance and the truth of the Gospel. Her mom also helped us out quite a bit with some principles that we weren’t quite able teach. Her dad is a less active and he too joined us during the lessons and this past Sunday he came to church and after our meetings he cooked us lunch. But the best part came after the baptism of Sarbia and it was her turn to share her testimony. She told us that he had been practicing her testimony and so she got up and shared her testimony with nothing but sign language.